Anima Sorceror
by GaBeRock
Summary: Eregon has left Alegasia, and is looking for a place to re-create the riders when he discovers a new continent, one where people possessed by spirits can be found anywhere.  post Inheritance
1. information

_A little information concerning +anima…_

For those of you who have read +anima, good for you! You can ignore this. For those of you who haven't, +anima is a manga draw by Mukai Natsumi. It follows the adventures of four "+anima," people who can transform parts of their bodies into animal body parts, i.e., the main character, Cooro, can sprout crow wings from his back. To turn into a +anima you must be between the ages of 4 and sixteen (I believe, some exceptions

The +anima of the main characters are:

Cooro: Raven: Sprouts wings and arms become covered in feathers. Can sense other +anima nearby.

Nana: Bat: Sprouts bat wings and bat ears. Can echolocate and let out a screech that momentarily stuns anyone around her.

Husky: Fish: Legs turn into a tail and he gains gills.

Senri: Bear: His right arm turns into a bear claw.

Some background about the main characters.

Cooro: His mother died during childbirth, but with strength from his +anima, Cooro was able to exit her belly. Gained his +anima at birth. (I'll spare you the gruesome details.) was raised by a nun at a church.

Nana: Was raised by her mother and drunkard father. She accidentally stabbed her father, and ran away, fearing he would retaliate. Gained her +anima running away from her father.

Senri: One of the Kim-un-Kur, a Native-American-esque tribe. His +anima was gained while in danger from a bear, but since the bear was insane it affected his mental state. He wears an eyepatch, and while it is on his memory is somewhat foggy and he doesn't talk much, but when it is off he is an insane beast.

Husky: Was the Sailandese crown prince. One of the kings wives tried to drown him underwater so her son could be king, but he instead tuned into a +anima. He had to leave Sailand because they had laws requiring all +anima to be jailed.

To find the manga on or just type in +anima in the subject box.


	2. Chapter I

+Anima Sorcerer: chapter I

Kazana's POV

I slowly crept through the darkness of a back alley. Seeing that there were no soldiers around, I motioned to the rest of my team to follow me. Since I had turned into a +anima, sixteen years prior, I had witnessed thousands of acts of cruelty to +anima, and there was only one person to blame. The king. The king was the source of all this misfortune. He chose to leave the +anima in slavery, he chose to even legalize slavery, and I had devoted my entire life to killing him, and now he was dead, but the new king, Keane, instead of illegalizing slavery, kept it perfectly legal, although from what little I had seen of him, he found it distasteful. I had realized that the kings refused to illegalize slavery because they were afraid of losing power, but we had a plan. If we turned the king himself, as well as the rest of the princes, into +anima, then they would be _forced _to illegalize slavery.

And so our night began.

We split up, each capturing multiple princes, and bringing them to a parapet, drugged. Finally, we captured the king, king Keane. I nodded to the rest of my team, and said "do it." We awoke each sleeping child with pungent smelling salts. Just as they began to scream for the guards, we threw each and every one of them off the castle. This may have seemed like a senseless act of cruelty, but it wasn't. Throwing these children off the high parapet would definitely kill them if they hit the ground, providing an incentive to become a +anima- either turn into a +anima or die, and they would get ample time to morph before they hit the ground. And we were right.

Keane's POV

I woke up as soon as the spices hit the back of my nose. I shot up and sneezed violently until I regained my composure, but my situation refused to get better. Men (and probably women) in black cloaks were surrounding me. Just as I began to scream for the guards, the largest one picked me up and _threw _me off the parapet.

As I was falling, I had just enough time to think _hey, wasn't that one of Crystala's +anima slaves _before panic set in. I seemed to be falling in slow motion. Colors and shapes blurred around me as I fell to my death, but I wasn't ready to die just yet. Spotting a raven on a windowsill, I remembered all I knew about +anima. _Children in mortal danger absorb animal spirits to become +anima. _I _am in mortal danger!_ I concentrated on drawing in the spirit of the raven. I closed my eyes, panicking, when it failed. This entire episode took a little less than four seconds. I felt the beginnings of tears forming. _Please, please, please, I don't want to die… _I thought desperately, calling on the bird for help. Suddenly, a warm feeling came over me. My back tingled, until suddenly, without warning, black wings burst out of my back. I quickly leveled out, seeing that the rest of the princes were doing the same, albeit with different kinds of wings than mine. We were all +anima now! _Are we going to be sold as slaves? _I dithered on the question a while before realizing _no! I am the king! I can illegalize the slavery of +anima if I wish, and the civilians would have to follow my orders, if they don't, then there will be chaos and anarchy, as there will be no one to take my place! Except… I had seen Myrrha in the castle, before? But no! Myrrha was dead; I was king! And now to punish the evildoers! _I rose higher in the sky, until I was at the level of the villains who had attempted to murder me. "So your murder attempt _failed!_" I spat spitefully to the large, +anima slave who seemed like the leader.

He merely smiled and shook his head, saying "don't you understand? We have gotten exactly what we wanted! Have fun being a +anima, _boy_." The man sprouted hawk wings from his back, and flew away, just as his assistants had already done, I noticed, the top of the parapet was void of all visible life.

As I gently lowered myself to the ground, I thought, "Maybe he wasn't trying to kill us after all…"

Kazana's POV

As I flew away, I felt euphoria spread across my entire body. I had done it! I had finally freed all +anima slaves! Or I had at least guaranteed that they would be free, I didn't free them directly. It would certainly be an exciting tale to tell my children, that is, if I lived long enough to get any… But I decided not to let pondering my own mortality disturb my good mood, because, after all, it was _my _plan, not that meddling idiot Crystala's more "gentle approach" way of thinking, that had freed the +anima. I had done it!

**6 months later**

(Husky's POV)

Earlier, we had heard from a traveling merchant that Sailand no longer had +anima slaves. Apparently, there was an "incident" that resulted in turning every one of the princes, including the king, Keane, into +anima. While I felt no enmity for the princes themselves, I couldn't help feel a twinge of satisfaction that the queens had had to experience the unavoidable furor surrounding the princes turning into +anima. The queens had been the real reason I had been bullied, although wasn't quite sure why they had stayed at court after the death of the previous Sailandese king, it was most likely because they just wanted to retain the power that they had at court, as I doubted that Keane actually "used" them, but it would be a disturbing thought if they did. We had decided to go back to Sailand; I wanted to see my mother again, Nana liked Sailandese dresses, Cooro liked Sailandese food (although, as far as I knew, Cooro liked all food) and Senri… Was just being Senri, although he didn't seem averse to going with us to Sailand.

We had boarded a wealthy merchant's entourage, he was going to Sailand to trade in silks, and we had stayed with him until encountering Crystala. We had decided to join her caravan, we already knew her, and traveling with a bunch of +anima would be easier than traveling with a businessman; slavery had recently been outlawed, but that didn't make people like +anima.

After slavery had been outlawed, many +anima had left Crystala, but many had decided to stay with her, out of loyalty. She had given them a home, and even paid them, even though she didn't have to, because, technically, they were slaves. She was going to the palace to talk with Keane about how +anima would be treated; he was a +anima but he was mostly insulated from the outside world due to his royal lineage _although that doesn't always count for much _I though cynically, and we needed to guarantee that things wouldn't just revert to how they were earlier.

"Hi, Husky!" Daisy, the coyote +anima we had met the last time greeted me. She was one of the +anima who had decided to stay with Crystala, as one of her servants.

"Hello."

She scratched her chin, saying, "hmmm… You look like someone I've seen before…Well, guess it doesn't matter. Have fun in Sailand!" Daisy skipped off to talk to Cooro. I mentally gave a sigh of relief. Each day that passed, I grew to look more and more like my father, and if anyone recognized me, then I wouldn't want to deal with the consequences, although, as +anima were no longer being enslaved, maybe… _No._ I shook my head. I was happy traveling with Cooro, Nana, and Senri. The past was the past, and my home was Astaria now.

As far as the others went, in our years of traveling, other than me, Cooro had changed the most appearance-wise. He no longer wore his flight goggles; although I was sure he still kept them around. He still had his feathers in his hair, I doubt he would ever get rid of those, but he no longer kept his hair back, and instead his black hair framed his face in a way, as I heard some giggling teenage girls describe it in Astaria that was "extremely hot." He had shot up, and now was almost as tall as Senri.

Senri, however, had stayed almost the same. He still wore his cloak and eye patch, although he had cut his silver hair a while back, so now it was close cropped to his head, apparently because it restricted him while he pursued his new favorite hobby; whittling.

Nana had lost many of her "little girl" looks, and was looking more and more like a woman. She no longer wore her many layer dresses, instead preferring to wear trousers while traveling, although she still wore bonnets everywhere.

In the distance, I noticed a dark speck rapidly approaching. I shaded my eyes to see it better, but still couldn't make it out. I turned to Crystala, who was to my left, talking to some merchants. I gently tugged on her cloak, saying, "Crystala, what's that?"

Crystala frowned, before giving an exasperated sigh. "Probably just Kazana again…"

_Kazana? Wasn't that the hawk +anima that helped me see my mother? _I though, before asking Crystala "why?"

Crystala frowned, saying "I'd prefer if you didn't flaunt the information, some people never wanted the royalty to become +anima, but Kazana was the one who turned the princes and King Kean into +anima." She said it with annoyance, but I couldn't help but detect a note of pride in her voice.

Kazana landed smoothly in front of me. "Old lady's right," he said, with a smug tone. "I _did _free all +anima from slavery. What do you think of my plan now?" he said to me, directing the last part of his statement to Crystala. Crystala just sighed, irritated, shaking her head side to side. He shrugged, obviously expecting this answer, or something like it. "So, kiddo, what do you think now that your fellow… erm… nevermind…"

I shushed him. "Not here"

Kazana nodded. "Right. Bet that's not what you want to happen. We better talk over there." Kazana pointed to an empty tent.

(line break)

Inside the tent, Kazana began to speak. "Why are you here? You don't want to assume your 'status,' do you?"

I shook my head. "No, this is the same as last time. I just want to talk to my mother without the fear of being enslaved."

Kazana nodded. "Guess that's as good a reason as any."

/

In my opinion, in the manga, Kazana looks to be about in his late twenties, so I made the arbitrary decision to make him twenty seven when he meets our main characters, so in this story he is thirty, Husky and Nana are thirteen, Cooro is fourteen, and Senri is seventeen.

Please review! Plot suggestions welcome!

/


	3. Chapter II

+Anima Sorcerer: chapter II

(Husky's POV)

As I snuck away from the castle I felt jubilation within him. I had managed to talk to his mother again, something I thought I would never get to do again, and the entire thing had gone off without a hitch… almost… Keane _might _have seen me, however, I did not let myself dwell upon that; if he saw me, he saw me; it would give me just a little sense of satisfaction to know that he would have to step even more carefully now that he knew there was another heir to the throne.

(Senri's POV)

I smiled to myself, seeing that Husky was returning safely. I had very few people I chose to call friend, and Husky was among the foremost of those. As he approached, I wanted to ask a million different questions. _How did it go? Did you see your mom? Did any of the other princes see you? Did you have any problems with the guards?_ But as usual the enchantments put on my eye patch stopped me from saying more than a few words. "…Mother? …Guards?" Inside, I was a naturally talkative person, but the eye patch Crystala gave me was enchanted so I could only release small parts of my psych at a time. It was immensely irritating, but it was miles better than killing everyone in view.

To this day, I had not figured out how Crystala had enchanted the eye patch. While it was not common knowledge, some of my people; the Kim-un-Ur were spellcasters. It was a secret I had never shared with anyone outside out tribe; not even my friends knew it. We were not the only spell casters, though. I have met a few different spellcasters before, but all of them had been quite weak, only powerful enough to heal a bruise. My people did not prize +anima because of a religious reason, as we told the ambassadors of other countries, but because every +anima could do magic, although only a few knew of that power. And that was what puzzled me. I was quite sure that Crystala was not a +anima, Cooro would have told me if she was, but she could still do magic, although she had denied it the one time I had asked her, saying that magic didn't exist. And there had been one other. Fly. The researcher. Just the thought of him simultaneously sent shivers down my spine and made my vision red with anger. He had dared to remove the +anima from Cooro, one of my closest friends. He claimed that He removed it with "science" but I knew better. Simply cutting the +anima tattoo from someone would not work; it had been tried before, the only way to transfer a +anima was with magic. Thankfully, he was dead; otherwise he would have been a major threat to us.

"Senri… Senri!" Cooro tugged at my sleeve, snapping me out of my reverie.

"…What?"

"C'mon, we're going!"

I nodded. We had agreed to leave the capital city as soon as possible to minimize the chance of getting caught. Our next destination? The ocean. The last time any of us had been to it was three years ago, and there the water had been frigid, and anyways, it was kind of spoiled by the fact that one of the fishermen had though Husky was a mermaid and… Well, that's a story for another time, but anyways, we were all hoping to spend some time in the sun near warm water off the cost of Sailand.

(Cooro's POV)

I looked around warily. Suddenly, a large dark shape _leaped _from beneath the waves and tackled me. My fear quickly turned to laughter. Husky looked at me, disgruntled. "What, I don't make a good sea monster?"

I shook my head, still laughing. "No! It's just that well…" I was temporarily overcome by a giggling fit. "The seaweed on your head looks like a green wig!"

He frantically shook it off, before looking at me with an annoyed look, but finally he grasped the humor of the situation and started laughing as well. "Ha! If I always wear seaweed on my head, no one will ever think I'm a mermaid again! Sure, they'll think I'm some sea-demon that's going to kill them all but at least sea-demon is a more respectable occupation than mermaid!" We laughed for maybe a minute for before stopping, although smiles were still on our faces. I squinted. In the distance I could see what looked like a great ship, larger, much _much _MUCH larger, than anything I had ever seen before. I tugged at husky's arm.

"Husky, Husky! Do you see that?" I pointed at the ship. Husky nodded his head in wonder, before frowning.

"We don't know if that ship is friendly. We better hide before it gets too close." I nodded. We dashed out of the water, Husky had already re-appeared his legs, and yelled at Nana and Senri, who had opted to stay on the beach; Nana to sun-tan as she put it, which basically meant she lied around with her midriff exposed, which caused Husky to blush- a lot- and Senri seemed to dislike water. He crouched at the water's edge and tried to growl it into submission.

(Senri's POV)

I do not like salt water.

(Cooro's POV)

We ducked underneath a cave near the back of the beach and waited for the ship to arrive. While it had seemed so close, it still to nearly twenty minutes of mindless waiting before it entered the bay the beach surrounded. And let me tell you, it was _enormous, _even large than I had though. A man stepped onto the prow of the boat. He looked around for a little bit, before looking directly at our cave and saying "You can come out; I promise that neither I nor any of my friends mean any harm." After we didn't come out, he said something, I'm assuming the same thing, in another language. This time, I felt compelled to trust him, although I could not understand why. In the background, Senri let off a confused growl. I crawled out of the cave and stood up, in view of the man.

"Who are you?"

(Eregon's POV)

We had finally reached land. We had been traveling for a week attempting to find a place to re-build the riders, but we had found nothing but endless water. It was incredibly frustrating, to say the least. At last Bloodgärm had spotted a smudge in the distance. We had sailed towards it in hope of land, and we were rewarded.

Upon nearing the bay I had cast my mind out to see if anything hostile was near. _Crabs… fish… grass… Humans?_ Out of what I had been expecting, the one thing I had never planned for was humans. I touched their minds, attempting to find out something about them, but other than a few unimportant stray thoughts, I could not get very far into their consciousness. They had mental defenses the likes of which I had never seen before. They were impossible to pierce, but they seemed to have no awareness of their own defenses. I opened the door of the cabin and stepped out onto the deck. _"Be careful," _Saphira told me from below decks. _"While my pregnancy is in its advanced stages I will not be able to defend you as I should. We do not know who they are or what they can do."_

_ "Agreed." _I thought back at her.

"You can come out; I promise that neither I nor my friends mean you any harm." When they didn't act, I repeated my statement again in the ancient language; none of us meant them harm if they did not attack us. This time, one of them did crawl out. He was a young man, of maybe fourteen or fifteen years of age. He had a mop of black hair on his head that was held back with what looked like a form of spectacles, which I learned from the Elduarni were the best non-magical way to correct nearsightedness.

"Who are you?" He shouted at me.

After having the entire Varden bow and scrape to me, no matter how I protested, not being instantly recognized was, in a way, a novel experience. "I am Eregon Bromsson. Who are you?"

"Cooro. I don't have a last name!" he chirped at me. The rest of his friends crawled out from the cave. A tall, silver haired boy began to speak.

"Who are you, I don't just mean your name, who _are _you? I haven't heard of any nobles with your name in either Astaria or Sailand."

He did not seem to be anyone special, but his voice held an authority and self-confidence that reeked of royalty. I blinked, surprised.

"I am Eregon Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider."

He looked bewildered. "But dragons don't exist!"

Saphira growled, deep within the ship, before thinking to everyone present. _"I think not, little one."_

He and the blond girl looked shocked, the tall man with long silver hair looked impassive, like he couldn't care less, and the black haired one, Cooro, merely smiled wider. "Cool! How do you become a dragon rider?"

Saphira, bemused, sent me a private though. _"Interesting. He-with-round-ears-and-bluesilver-hair and she-with-round-ears-and-blond-hair seem to be wary, much like prey, although they do not seem like cowards, but he-with-round-ears-and-longsilver-hair seems like an experienced hunter while round-ear-Cooro seems to not care either way."_

I though agreement to her, before saying "and who are you?" directing my question to the three people who had not introduced themselves yet.

"Husky."

"Nana!"

"…Senri…"

I nodded, before saying "we are travelers, from a far distant land. Could you please show us the way to the nearest large port city?"

Husky, the tall one with blueish silver hair, said "There aren't any large port towns in Sailand, but if you keep going down the cost westward you should probably reach the port of Bornal in Astaria."

I nodded. "Do you know of any uninhabited islands?"

He shook his head. "None on this side of the continent, leastways, although you may find some if you circle around through the north, less people live there because of the snow."

I was somewhat disappointed that there were no sure places for us to raise the dragons near, but one way or another, this trip would end up doing good; we had discovered an entirely new continent, filled with strange cultures and people, and possibly even new kinds of magic! "Thank you." I nodded to the blue haired youth.

I was about to turn and retreat to the cabin when Cooro shouted "Wait!" I turned. HE had his brow furrowed in concentration. "There's something inside your ship… It's not human, trying to tell me something?"

Alarmed, I consulted each of the Elduarni, as well as each of the elves as to whether they were contacting him. They responded in the negative. Finally, I checked the eggs. Most of them were peaceful, if anxious to set off, but four were in a fever of excitement, each trying to contact the four people onshore. Alarmed, I consulted the elves and Elduarni, and they agreed.

I motioned towards the black haired boy. "Can you wait here? There is something I need to try." I quickly opened and descended the hatch into the lower reaches of the ship. I dashed to the area that the eggs we were carrying were being kept, and undid enough of the spells to retrieve the eggs. I exited the underbelly of the ship, retracing my steps, although with more care, aware of the eggs I was carrying. By now the ship had reached the inner part of the bay, so I was able to merely jump down onto the sand, giving the people a chance to observe my features; from a distance, I could pass for human, but in close quarters, I couldn't, however, as all of their attention was fixed on the dragon eggs, they did not seem to notice. Almost by instinct, the hand of the blond girl, Nana, reached towards the shell of one of the eggs, a white egg with golden veins.

"Are those dragon eggs? She asked, not taking her eyes from the egg. I heard the barest "cheep" emanate from the egg.

I nodded my head, bewildered. "You and your friends should probably come with me."

/

Yes, yes, I know, giving the main characters of a series dragons is _so _clichéd, but I just couldn't resist :P never fear, my real plot is still coming, this is just set up. On the lighter side, I am amazed at myself. With my other fanfiction I generally make each chapter about 1,200 words long, but on this one I have nearly doubled that figure! If any of you +anima fans had recognized the first chapter, congratz. I had originally intended to continue oneshot I had made with it, but I decided, in my post-inheritance cycle depression that what I _really _needed was to make an Inheritance Cycle/+anima crossover. Hope you like it! Also, for you non-+anima people, in the manga magic, other than the anima themselves, is not mentioned, I just wanted to re-enforce the +anima-spirits-sorcerers-magic connection that I plan to utilize later in the fan-fic. Please review!

/


	4. Chapter III

_Characters thoughts_

"_Characters thinking words to each other"_

"_**Characters thinking images or feelings to each other"**_

/

I found a more elegant way to do line breaks. From now on all line breaks will look like this: (")

/

Anima sorcerer chapter III

(Nana's POV)

I looked at the silvery mark on my palm- the gedwëy igsnasia- in wonder. My dragon had hatched soon after we had entered the ship on Eregon's request. I hadn't found the name of my dragon yet, and while Eregon said that was fine- he had not given Saphira a name until weeks after she had hatched for him, I was still kind of miffed. Neither Husky nor Senri had chosen names for their dragons yet, but for whatever reason Cooro instinctually knew what he wanted to name his dragon, and he could even understand some words from the ancient language.

Neither Eregon nor any of the elves could understand this; even dragons had to be taugh before learning it, but whenever someone asked Cooro he merely shrugged and said "I don't understand." And the elves were something else we never expected. Dragons were actually somewhat believable- I've heard stories about them before- but not once had I ever heard of were mysterious and aloof, as well as stronger than anyone we had ever seen, and Eregon said that all, or almost all, elves could use magic. Eregon was also strange. He looked kind of like an elf, but just from looking at him I could tell that he wasn't one. When I asked him, all he said was 'I was a human, until the blood oath celebration," and other than that he said the even he no longer knew. At least dragons were understandable.

"_**red?" "horses?" **_I roused myself from my reverie slightly as my dragon contacted me. So far I still felt uncomfortable with talking mind-to-mind, I was a new and slightly scary experience, but even I couldn't doubt the convenience. I squinted out into the desert trying to see the images my dragon had sent to me. For the longest time I could see nothing, and had almost decided that she was simply showing me images she had found in my memories, but then a horse rode over the top of a nearby dune. Its rider clutched a pole with a flag carrying he insignia of the Sailandese royal house.

Eregon appeared silently behind me, saying "who are they?"

I jumped before turning around and berating him "you shouldn't sneak up on people! Its rude and-" I shut my mouth, realizing who was talking. "Sorry, um-"

Eregon chuckled, shaking his head. "No, it's fine. I really shouldn't sneak up on people; I'm just too used to living with elves."

I blushed slightly. "Well, if I'm correct, that's the royal standard of Sailand."

"Should we talk to them?"

"Yes."

Eregon nodded. "Thanks Nana." He looked at the elf who was piloting the ship before saying "can you stop please? We should probably see what's going on." Although he only seemed to be about Senri's age Eregon seemed to exude a confidence that I've only seen in royalty… or Husky, but then again he _was _royalty.

The ship slowed to a stop, just as the riders did likewise. "Ho there! Who are you? Your ship bears no recognizable insignia! Please state your intentions!" shouted the lead rider, the standard bearer.

Eregon cupped his hand around his mouth, yelling "I am Eregon Bromsson, and we've come searching for a place to rebuild the riders, however, I am informed this area is inhabited, and I do not want to re-create the riders near any village or fief for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the riders have always been neutral and residing in any particular country would affect that neutrality."

One of the horses, the one directly behind the standard bearer, moved out of position and went to the front of the cavalcade. Its rider removed their hood. I gasped slightly. The rider was Keane! He cupped his hands around his mouth and said "and why would that matter? Why would it matter if the riders were neutral?"

Saphira rumbled from below decks before thinking to everyone present _"Because we would be too powerful to be allied with any one nation."_

Most of the horses stumbled backwards, their riders bearing expressions of mixed awe and apprehension, but one of the horsemen-horsewomen, I realized, simply dismounted and taking off her hood revealed Crystala. She bowed deeply at the waist before rising again and saying "atra esterní ono thelduin, Eregon Shur'tugal, Bjartskular. Fricai onr eka eddyr."*

(Eregon's POV)

"…atra esterní ono thelduin, Eregon Shur'tugal, Bjartskular. Fricai onr eka eddyr." I blinked, confused. When asked, all four of the new dragon riders claimed that they didn't know magic existed before today, except for something called "anima" but they had conflicting replies when I asked what that was, so I stopped asking; I figured I would be able to find out later.

Turning my gaze to the silver haired woman- actually, now that I thought about it, she looked kind of like Husky- I said "who are you? I though no one here spoke in the ancient language?"

"Most don't, however, I believed it would be useful to know, and as for who am I, I am Crystala"

By then the other riders had regained their composure. One of them spoke reprovingly to Crystala in tones obviously meant only for her, although I was still able to hear them. "Crystala, you may be my aunt, but treason to the crown, as in me, is still a hanging offense. As soon as possible you will explain to me this language."

Crystala laughed humorlessly. "Keane, what a cold-hearted nephew you have become, but as for hanging me, I would doubt that you would be able to, I am more powerful than you know."

I feigned a look of frustrated interest, looking at the pair. I knew from experience that if I gave any indication that I had heard I would be mistrusted- they would believe that I had been eavesdropping, although doubtless they would never say it to my face.

Keane turned around, an expression of wounded dignity on his face, as well as just a touch of fear. He composed himself before saying "if you are so powerful, what do you intend to do?"

"Circle around the continent until we find an uninhabited, unclaimed, island to live in."

Keane paused for a moment, before saying "to my knowledge there are no islands to the north that are both unclaimed and large enough to live in, however, Sailand has possession of a large, hospitable island near the border of Sailand and Astaria that is as of yet uninhabited. I would give it to you in return for a pledge to assist in defending Sailand if it were attacked."

I paused to consider his statement. It was a good deal, however, binding myself, and therefore all dragon riders after me to one country would be folly. "I cannot bind the dragon riders to any one country; however, the riders are sworn to keep peace, so I can say that, given time to re-build we would help your country defend itself against aggressors who violate any of our moral principles, such as being tyrants or condoning slavery." I saw him flinch at the word slavery. "However, if you condone slavery…" I let my words trail of threateningly. I am not at all sure if we would be able to defeat Sailand in war, however I suspected that the threat of facing unknown people from a far distant land would stay his more bloodthirsty urges.

"We had slavery, but no more," he said in a low tone of voice. He raised his voice. "Your proposal sounds reasonable. The island is four score leagues west of this bay."

I nodded. "Thank you."

(")

(Cooro's POV)

I countered a blow from one of the elves, deflecting it with my sword before whipping my sword at her neck, only to be blocked by her sword. I jumped back but I was too late. I had dropped my guard and the elf whipped up her blade to touch my neck. I stuck my blade into the ground panting.

"You did better that time," she said. "Try again."

I shook my head side to side, exhausted. "No, maybe you elves can go on forever, but I can't."

For a second it looked like she would order me to comply, but she stopped realizing the state I was in. She nodded, dismissing me. "Secure some refreshments and return here within the hour."

"Thank you." I strode from the training field to get some water. We had arrived at the island two months ago and since then Senri, Husky, Nana, and I had been training in sword fighting and the Ancient Language. Maela**, -My dragon- dove from the air, spinning in a complex maneuver. She pulled her wings out at the last second to stop her descent. As she landed I felt her pleasure and pride at being able to do the maneuver. _"Congratulations!" _I thought to her.

She preened slightly, proud. _"You have been busy too, partner of my mind." _I smiled at her praise.

"Thanks, Maela," I muttered, smiling. I scratched her eye ridge absently, before saying "I said I would go get a drink, but…" Maela caught my drift and lowered herself, extending her forearm for me to get on her. I chuckled, before climbing up her arm and into her saddle. _"Three… two… one… go!" _Maela jumped into the sky, flapping her wings mightily. I let go from her neck spike and whooped as we gained altitude, her exhilaration and mine compounding. By the time we had reached our desired altitude I had rosy cheeks (or so Maela claimed.) I looked around, seeing each detail on the island magnified through Maela's eyes. We narrowed our eyes, spotting a boat with the Sailand colors on it. I contacted Eregon, something I had learned to do, Eregon claimed that few riders were able to contact others so little time after gaining a dragon, but it didn't seem so hard; me and Senri had figured it out only days after having dragons and Husky and Nana figured it out only slightly after us. _"Eregon, Eregon!" _feeling awareness, I continued. _"There's a boat flying Sailand colors coming! Shouldn't you check it out?"_

I felt his assent. _"Cooro, you should land. Go to the central hall; too many dragons will probably scare them witless." _The central hall was a hall Eregon and the elves had "dug" read, magicked into the side of the extinct volcano the island was formed around. It was spacious enough to hold all the dragons and all the people on the island at once, as well as all the dragon eggs. As I flew there on Maela I contacted Senri, Husky, and Nana and repeated his message.

_Weird, I never thought I would be flying __on __something… We need to figure out how to explain +anima to the elves and Eregon, so far, they've let the matter rest, but I bet they still want to know what they are…_

(Eregon's POV)

I stood on the beach as the emissary, a tall bald, thin, man wearing voluptuous robes dis-embarked from the row-boat. He grunted, clearing his throat, before beginning to speak.

"Sir Bromsson-" I almost chuckled at that, but I managed to restrain myself "-you promised to aid us if we were attacked, correct?"

"Yes, unless you provoked the opposing side into attacking for whatever reason."

He nodded, apparently not unduly surprised or disappointed at my response. "Yes, well, we are being attacked right now, and we did not offend in the slightest. The attackers have come from the north and pillage and rape in the countryside without regard for the people. As far as we can tell they have no reason for being her other than to acquire more land, and it is not just us who are affected. Our spies claim that Astaria is being attacked as well. If you truly meant your pledge, you will help us."

I nodded slowly before saying "I did mean my pledge, and we will help, but first, we will need information about the attacking forces, and I must remind you that while we are powerful we are not nearly large enough to take an entire army by ourselves. We will need information on your troops as well."

He nodded. "We have considered that. In return for your help you will be fully supplied and armed. As for the invaders, we do not know much about them, but we do know that they are great in number and have control over… _unnatural_… powers… thankfully, one of our units survived a battle with some of them and they say that while they have control over these powers they are not very strong physically."

I nodded. They did not seem to be any of the known races, and it looked like they knew how to use magic. "We will help you, however, as the training of the newer dragon riders is not done, we will travel relatively slowly."

"Very well." He removed a slip of folded paper from his robe. I unfolded it, revealing a map. "Your destination in marked with an 'x' please be there within two weeks."

I nodded. "I find those terms agreeable." Two weeks would hopefully give us enough time to instruct the four Shur'tugal*** in the rudiments of magic. Like my training, it would be rushed, however, if my training was any indicator, they would learn best if pressed for time.

/

*"May good fortune rule over you, Eregon dragon rider, bright-scales. I am your friend."

**quiet

***Dragon riders

/


	5. Chapter IV

/

Characters thoughts

"Characters talking"

"_Characters thinking words to each other"_

"**Characters thinking images or feelings to each other"**

**/**

**Me: What? Where am I? How did I get here!**

**Cooro: You'r-**

**Me: Noooooooooooooooo! The endless terror of non-existence is upon me! I fear I've discombobulated my last chipmunk! The floogilofy of Paris has DE-um PO-tayOOOHHH.**

**Cooro: Seriously dude, calm down.**

**Me: You're Cooro!**

**Cooro: Obviously, You can see my name to the left.**

**Me: Wanna be insanity buddies?**

**Cooro: You're not insane, just really, really, **_**really,**_** high.**

**Me: Oh. So you're just a figment of my imagination instead of a re-occurring phenomenon.**

**Cooro: ***sigh*** yes, but I'm a figment of your imagination that is going to do the disclaimer.**

**Me: I've forgotten to do that, haven't I?**

**Cooro: Yes. –To audience- This author does not own anything in this fanfiction.**

**Me: What audience?**

**Cooro: Ignore that and go back to being high.**

**Me: Whoa! Just whoa! Whoa…**

_Anima sorcerer chapter IV_

(Senri's POV)

Mnementh* did a barrel roll, bugling his joy into the sky. I whooped in exhilaration. Ever since I had been chosen by Mnementh the effects of both the mad anima, as well as Crystala's eye patch had lessened on my thinking.

From my vantage point, thousands of feet in the air, the land below blurred together into browns and yellows, the deserts of Sailand passing below me. _So this is what Cooro sees…_

"_It's a pity I can't fly by you…" _I thought to Mnementh.

"_No matter." _He thought back. _"In fact, I have something that may be better…"_

"_What?" _I asked, curious.

"_Join minds with me."_

I joined my mind with his, but instead of just leaving that be, he drew me further in. Slowly, I lost sense of myself, and our thoughts, personalities, and very identities merged.

_**WE ARE MNENRI!**_

_***Senri- "cough… uh... yeah… just ignore that, don't know where that came from… Stupid author…"***_

We were like the same being; I felt myself on my back, as well as me under me. It was the most bizarre, yet most amazing feeling ever. **

_ Everything had a bluish tint to it, and it felt like I could hear miles. I dove and swooped in exhilaration, receiving more than one confused glance from Nana, the only person flying near me; Husky and Cooro were training with Eregon._

_ Eventually our conscious nesses separated. I "woke" to find myself flushed and red, my heart hammering away at miles per second. My reckless joy died down, but I still felt exhilarated from my adventure. __"We should really try that again later." __I thought to Mnementh._

_(Husky's POV)_

_ I felt my hair blow back as I dove down. In front of me were Cooro and his dragon, Maela. Suddenly, they pulled up and banked to their left, revealing just how close the ground really was. I gritted my teeth, panicked. __"PULL UP PULL UP PULL UP!" __I thought-yelled at Psukhe***. She veered up, her wings angling to catch the air. Our descent slowed abruptly and we leveled up. I touched my forehead, half-expecting to find beads of sweat there; there were. __"Never, EVER, do that again."_

_She replied, peeved. __"There was no chance of me crashing. I had anticipated that, and I had guessed he would do that beforehand."_

_My anger abated, I knew she was right, but I wasn't going to let her off the hook just yet.__I snorted. __"Know it all women."_

_She made a sound I could only construe as a chuckle. __"Hypocritical men."_

_"Husky! HUSKY!"__ I flinched and grimaced slightly. "__Geez, Cooro. No need to yell."_

_"Sure, but anyways Eregon said to land; He's gonna teach us some magic."_

_I sent a feeling of agreement to him. In my gut were mixed feelings- both excitement and apprehension. Eregon had told us a little about magic, and from what I knew I could surmise that it was both incredibly useful and incredibly dangerous._

_"Husky- do not worry. I know that you will be able to do this." __I patted Psukhe's neck, thankful at her reassurance._

_"Let's descend."_

_(Nana's POV)_

_ I wrapped my furs tightly around me, shivering. We had landed high up, on a nigh-on unreachable mountain in the mountain range between Astaria and Sailand so we wouldn't alarm anyone close by. Dimly, I heard Eregon's Lecture, and I only perked up once he said "but, of course, I won't be teaching you. The elves are more versed in magic than I am, and they would be better teachers."_

_ "Why are you the leader of the riders then?" I asked, confused._

_ Eregon shrugged. "It's easier when I need to deal with diplomats, and either way, none of the elves could be called that- they aren't riders."_

_ I nodded; it did make sense._

_ I was paired up with an elf**** and we began._

_ "The most important thing about magic is concentration. You could have as much energy as you wanted, but against a focused opponent you would lose. Your mental defenses have quite a bit to do with this- even if you are a superb magician and have large amounts of energy at your disposal; if your focus wavers your opponent could invade your mind and compel you to kill yourself. Also, if you do not have enough focus, you could unintentionally cast a different spell than you intended, possibly with disastrous consequences. For example, you could cast the spell for fire, brisingr, originally intending to burn your opponent, but if your focus wavers while casting the spell you could instead burn yourself, of one of your allies."_

_ I nodded, taking in his speech. "But what do the spells themselves have to do with this?"_

_ He nodded. "That is a very good question. The spells are to name what you intend to do." He bent over and picked up a rock, before lifting it up. "You may call this a rock, or a pebble, or obsidian. Each is a name for this, and, with enough focus, each word could allow you to manipulate this rock. The Ancient Language, the language of magic, contains the true names of objects. In the ancient language, the name for a rock is __sterna__. Unlike other names you can use for it, it is not __just __a name, but its true name. It names the very essence of a rock, and with it, allows you to manipulate it."_

_ I stood there for a while, before asking "can people have true names?"_

_ He nodded. "Everyone does, but that is a lesson for another time. Hold out your hands." I did. He reached out and dropped the pebble in my hands. "Look it over, focus it in your mind, and when you are ready say 'sterna reisa,' which means 'rise, rock.'"_

_ I looked it over, memorizing each nook and cranny until I felt I was totally familiar with the black piece of stone. I held it out and gathered my wits, concentrating on the rock and it alone. Finally, I opened my hand, letting the black rock gleam in the sun. "Sterna reisa!" Nothing happened. Frustrated, I tried again. And again. And again. Each time, I became more and more angry. "Sterna reisa!" the rock wobbled. My bad move instantly vanished. "I did it!" I crowed._

_ "Very good. Do it again."_

_ I looked at the elf askance. "Are you freaking __crazy!__"_

/

*yes, this is a reference to the Dragonriders of Pern series, I felt that since that series inspired Christopher Paulini to write Eregon this series should at least be alluded to.

**I realize that when Eregon did this he felt like he was Saphira, but in this case the merging is much more complete, and it's not just Senri being brought into the body of Mnementh, but Mnementh into the body of Senri as well.

***Greek for "soul" or "state of being alive" I felt that Sailand = Greek, Astaria = Roman, proof= in latin, anima means soul, so +anima means +soul. As for Sailand=Greek, I just chose that arbitrarily because I needed a name for Husky's dragon.

****I don't remember any of their names, except for Bloodgharm's so could someone please tell me?

I apologize for the part with in bold, so many other authors have kidnapped characters, and I felt like trying it, and either way, I needed a disclaimer, and it was a handy way to add to my word count because I had major writer's block.

I don't know how long this arc (teaching the +anima magic) will take, but I anticipate that it will last at least through the first portion of next chapter, but one way or another, there is going to be lots of time-skips involved. I apologize for the shorter chapter, but I felt that this was as long as I could make it and not have it be boring, but anyways, happy early Christmas present! My update schedule will stay slow- if I try to write chapters in less time they come out shallow and I don't get enough depth into them. Please tell me how I'm doing! I have the plot basically charted out, but suggestions are welcome- I plan the big events but not the small, so it will help me write faster.

**NOTICE: **I need two OC's- one Urgal (should be female) and one dwarf (gender doesn't matter.) Y'all can probably guess why ;D. And two dragon names and colorings.

In this format:

Name: (needed)

Personality: (preffered)

/


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